


No Kinder Sign

by MoonlightShines (Thatkillervibe)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Cisco just being really soft, Fluff, I'm sorry but this is just super fluff, Injury, Sick Fic, True Love's Kiss, sorta - Freeform, this is based off my post I won't lie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 09:58:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18008780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatkillervibe/pseuds/MoonlightShines
Summary: There was nobody left but the two of them, Caitlin unconscious and pale, limp against the starchy sheet, and Cisco stiff, face etched with worry. His elbows dug into the cot, unsure what to do other than wait.





	No Kinder Sign

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ciscoscaitlin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ciscoscaitlin/gifts).



> This is my 50th fic :)

There was nobody left but the two of them, Caitlin unconscious and pale, limp against the starchy sheet, and Cisco stiff, face etched with worry. His elbows dug into the cot, unsure what to do other than wait.

 

Cisco hated days like these, when she was hurt, and her healing decided to give them grief. There were no patterns, no predictability with how to help speed up the process.

 

Sometimes Caitlin would get scrapes and they’d watch her skin stitch itself up moments later, but other times her wounds would gape openly, and she’d ask Iris to pour antiseptic over them as Cisco hovered over her with his hand pressed to his mouth. At least then, Caitlin was awake and knew what to do. She’d shrug her shoulders and they’d all guess together, and that eased his mind.

 

But it became clear tonight that when Caitlin got knocked out cold, Frost did too.

 

Frost’s skull had smacked hard against the pavement, losing her footing when attempting to freeze their meta of the week. Cisco had never vibe blasted away someone so quickly in his life. Barry and Ralph had taken care of it as Cisco pulled her into his lap. Frost’s hair and blue lips faded away, and he was left with a comatose Caitlin.

 

His hands and leather pants were both sticky with blood (and so was the sidewalk, and her jacket--and Cisco really tried hard not to think about where else she had smeared red for his own sanity) and they knew it would have to be Cisco to breach her to safety.

 

Times like those made it difficult for Cisco to not straight up breach into the hospital, place his best friend in the emergency crash room and demand them to _fix her._ But Caitlin wouldn’t want him to, still sensitive from her Killer Frost stint, fearing what dots they may connect if they poked around her body, should she go back as a patient.

 

Night crept over, and Barry asked if Cisco would be alright watching over her, wanting to get his wife home.

 

 _“Yeah. Of course,”_ Cisco said, appreciating the comforting pat on the back Iris gave him, but couldn’t exactly comprehend how Barry could just walk out of Star Labs with easy conscience as Caitlin laid in a hospital bed, not knowing if their best friend would be okay. But he wasn’t there, like Cisco was, when it happened last time and she _died._ So maybe Barry never would.

 

The lights were dimmed, and the building hummed in ways only noticed when there was nobody to fill the void. Cisco’s eyes wandered around the Med Bay, and he figured the best he could do was help with a little clean up. It took effort for him to push himself away, something in him protesting the thought of peeling off his chair, the need to be within a constant two feet radius from her strong, but a little ridiculous.

 

He got up, stretching his joints until they popped, blinking in the dark. The warm light of the lamp was only just enough to make out the surroundings, other than the monitor screen, which was dull in brightness anyway, but Cisco was hesitant to flick on the fluorescent fixtures overhead, half convinced it would be bad for her.

 

He wasn’t a doctor, that was for certain. Caitlin loved to tease his squeamishness, but he _had_ picked things up. However, in times like these, as the minutes dragged on and she still didn’t stir, Cisco lost his confidence, no longer sure he had even a clue to what he was doing.

 

Were lights bad for her? She wasn’t even conscious to see them, but what if she had a concussion, and needed to be in the dark? Okay no, that sounded silly. That was silly, right?

 

Ugh, this was hard.

 

Cisco closed a few drawers that were left open, keeping his hands busy. Eventually there was nothing left to tidy, the Med Bay being always sparkling and clear just like Caitlin for the most part in the first place.

 

He plopped himself back into the chair, glancing at the low battery on his phone, worrying his bottom lip.

 

The longer she wouldn’t wake, the worse it was, right?

 

He smoothed out the wrinkles of her rucked up shirt, knowing she’d be horrified to let her appearance go so messy, even injured, and began to talk to her under his breath. “I’d be nice to wake up soon, Caitlin. I don’t think I make a very good nurse.” He chuckled to himself at the image of him in scrubs and a stethoscope, respecting the profession deeply, but knowing it was just _not_ for him.

 

He glanced up at her face, hopeful for a reaction, but her eyelids were still glued shut. Despite the steady monitor tracking her heartbeat, he’d fallen into the habit of making sure she was still breathing, staring to catch the rise and fall of her chest, the breath under his palm when he put his hand to her slightly parted mouth.

 

Thank god.

 

He settled back into his chair, playing a game on his phone that didn’t require a lot of brain activity.

 

It was just. Cisco didn’t cope well without her. He was protective, he knew that, had grown a bit touchy about her ever since the particle accelerator exploded and he’d found her sobbing in the corner of Ronnie’s old lab.

 

And it was true, that she didn’t need his protection, that it wasn’t necessary. That she was strong and independent in a way that was the result of learned experience, developed in childhood, and couldn’t quite be shaken out of.  She did not appreciate being coddled, or treated with kiddie gloves, but she’d always somehow allow the extra care, when it came from him.

 

There was something about Caitlin that had his mind go _nuts_ when she so much as frowned. It was stronger than their team bond, than simply because she was his best friend. Their connection was more complicated than that, older too, deep like roots. Sometime in the last few years they silently chose each other to plant themselves, a place they could keep their secrets, hopes, and fears--Cisco had with her, at least, and he liked to think she had too. But the importance of it was unspoken, maybe too sidestepped, actually, and he began to wonder if it was even safe to unpack the reasons why that was.

 

He fiddled with his phone case, snapping it on and off. Well. Maybe he already knew.

 

He saw a flash of movement and he stood up, forgetting his phone.

 

“Caitlin?”

 

He traced a hand over her arm, trying to ease her out of it. “Hey, you can wake up, I swear it’s fine, no audience. Just me.”

 

But she wasn’t waking up, and as Cisco rubbed his hand up and down her arm, he noticed the goosebumps under his fingertips.

 

“You’re cold,” he murmured, and felt bad for not thinking it before, there they were in Star Labs after hours with the thermostat doing its job by dropping the temp, and Cisco was all comfy in his hoodie while Caitlin had only a short sleeve shirt from underneath her suit.  She shivered again, and that confirmed it.

 

Cisco went rushing to her supply cabinet for a blanket. He chose a fluffy, fuzzy one. The types she liked to wrap around herself after an accidental slip in the ocean (it happened more than they‘d like, dragging themselves off the beach in their soaking suits smelling fishy and wondering if maybe they should pay more attention to vote in a mayor who cared about the city’s environment), teeth chattering with her hair plastered to her face, dripping wet.

 

The blanket smelled good. Like dryer sheets with a faint garden scent. Cisco pulled the blanket up, gently covering over her shoulders.

 

“There you go.”

 

He brushed her hair to the side, minding her bruises and checking the bandage to make sure it didn’t need to be changed, but the bleeding had stopped a while ago, the back of her head dried at the blood clot.

 

His hand slid to her neck, lowering her head again onto the thin pillow.

 

She looked so soft, and he found himself blushing in the amber lamplight, alone with his feelings.

 

They’d have to talk, when she felt better, because Cisco wasn’t sure he could keep this up anymore.

 

He leaned down, and it was the middle of the night, and he was in his CCU hoodie, and she was covered up in that fuzzy blanket, and he bent forward, hands supporting himself on her bed to kiss her forehead.

 

He pulled back, embarrassed, and sat down with a thump. It was just a stupid little peck, and yet he felt raw and exposed, like maybe Caitlin’s consciousness was hovering over her body, judging him like in those movies.

 

The coffee only lasted him so long, and now he was starting to wish she’d wake so he could take her place on the bed.

 

He was just starting to nod off, barely a minute or two later, leaning his head against her cot when he felt her hand move over his, draped over the blanket he had been using as a makeshift pillow.

 

He jerked upright, and squeezed her fingers as her lashes fluttered open.

 

“Hey you.” Cisco inched forward, and god, was his voice ever like syrup. Did he always sound like that?

 

Caitlin grimaced, blinking rapidly, then let her eyes fall to her right, taking in her surroundings and her bedside companion.

 

“What happened?” she groaned, her voice cracked and hoarse. “My head hurts.”

 

He reached over for the water glass with a plastic straw he had handy, carefully guiding it to her mouth.

 

“You took a nasty fall, been out for a while.”

 

She pushed the glass away after a few sips, and he set it down.

 

She stared up at him, and it was then that he realized she never let go of his hand.

 

He looked down at them, then glanced back up, giving her a lopsided grin.

 

“If I knew all I had to do was pull a Sleeping Beauty, I would’ve kissed you hours ago.”

 

He leaned in again, feeling bold, pressing his lips soft against her temple, and decided to let it linger. Their eyes met after, and she never looked so sweet when she smiled.

 

“What time is it?”

 

Cisco fumbled for his phone, rolling his eyes at the 6% battery and told her just how late at night (or early in the morning) it was.

 

Her little gasp was cute.

 

“You stayed here with me, the entire time?”

 

“Of course I did. I couldn’t leave you.”

 

“Cisco,” she whispered. “Come here.”

 

His heart skipped a beat, when she fisted her hand in his shirt, pulling him forward, and maybe he was dreaming, it really _was_ late after all. But her mouth over his, chapped and dry, yet still, just so perfect was enough for him to know this was as real as it gets.

 

He laughed, after breaking away, rubbing comforting circles her skin softly when she whimpered at the pressure in her head. “Well,” he said after a moment, looking aside.

 

He was sure she’d blush and apologize or say _I don’t know what came over me Cisco, must be the head trauma._

 

But she didn’t. Oh god, she didn’t.

 

“Let’s get you some Tylenol, and maybe you can walk me through how to perform a concussion diagnosis.”

 

Caitlin’s eyes were droopy, but she agreed, mouth turning upright at the corners. “Sounds... good,” she whispered. “I feel better already.”

 

Cisco ran his thumb over her knuckles, preventing himself from thrumming with excitement, unable to stop mirroring her expression, pretty sure he was broadcasting his adoration.

 

Now they _had_ to talk when she got better, only so that he could slide his hands into her hair when he next kissed her, deeply and thorough without fear of causing her pain, so that he could make her dizzy _not_ because of her fall, and something was telling Cisco that talk would only be the start of what he could only imagine would be special, and tender, and amazing.  

 

A life with Caitlin, actually _with_ Caitlin, would be nothing short of amazing. 

 

“I’m glad,” he told her. “Welcome back.”

 

~.~ 

_I can express no kinder sign of love, than this kind kiss_

_\- Shakespeare_

 

**Author's Note:**

> We were playing around with the idea of Killervibe + True Love's Kiss. So. This happened.


End file.
